EVEN fairytales have to come to an end sometimes. Sunderland have exceeded expectations at every turn this season, but entering the land of the giants proved a step too far for Tony Mowbray’s intrepid youngsters. As a result, it will be Luton’s set-piece specialists contesting the Championship play-off final at Wembley rather than the Black Cats’ patched-up purists.

In the end, the physical difference between the two sides told. Luton looked like scoring every time they crossed the ball into Sunderland’s six-yard box, and unfortunately for Tony Mowbray and his players, that happened pretty much every time the home side had the ball in the Black Cats’ half.

Sunderland’s first-leg advantage was eradicated within the opening ten minutes as Gabe Osho stabbed home from the first of a succession of Luton corners, and the hosts turned the game completely on its head when Tom Lockyer headed home two minutes before the interval.

In truth, the hosts could easily have scored another two or three goals from crosses, such was the extent of their aerial dominance, and they would have were it not for some crucial goalline stops from Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume, who did their best in trying circumstances.

Mowbray will not want to make excuses, but ultimately, Sunderland’s crippling injury list proved insurmountable. Losing Ross Stewart for most of the season was bad enough, but trying to negotiate a play-off campaign without a single natural centre-half was always going to be a challenge. Once Luton were established as the opposition, it became an impossible task.

The Black Cats can still take pride from their efforts over the course of the last nine months, with mere survival the main ambition when the season began last August. The cheers from a sold-out away end that greeted Mowbray and his players at the final whistle underlined the depth of the appreciation for their efforts. Progressing again next season will not be easy, but it has to be the aim for the powerbrokers in charge at the Stadium of Light.

Emulating Luton’s gradual growth would be a decent target, although Sunderland would perhaps be advised to stop short of coopting the Hatters’ tactics. Rarely can a clash of footballing styles have been quite as pronounced as it was in last night’s game.

Sunderland had just about managed to cope with Luton’s aerial bombardment at the Stadium of Light, but the task was always going to be more difficult inside a cramped, atmospheric Kenilworth Road. Luton’s tactics, which basically amounted to hurling the ball into Sunderland’s six-yard box at every available opportunity, were hardly a surprise, but anticipating where the danger is going to come from is one thing, dealing with it is quite another. Ten minutes in, and from their first corner of the game, Luton were celebrating the goal that levelled the tie.

It was a scrappy enough opener, with Osho stabbing home from close range after Lockyer’s header had struck a Sunderland defender, and it set the tone for the barrage of crosses that the Black Cats’ makeshift defence was forced to endure for the remainder of the evening.

Midway through the first half, it was Alfie Doughty crossing from the left and Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo producing close-range efforts that were hacked clear off the goalline, first by Hume and then by O’Nien.

Ten minutes later, and from another corner, Morris’ header was blocked next to the line. Luton kept the ball alive, Adebayo fired in another left-wing cross and Lockyer glanced a header inches wide of the far post. The orange waves of pressure felt incessant.

The one exception to the one-way traffic in the first half came early on, and might have resulted in a different night had things gone Sunderland’s way in the 13th minute.

Pierre Ekwah’s initial header from a corner was well saved by Ethan Horvath, and when the ball dropped back to the Sunderland midfielder, his drive across the face of goal struck the hand of Luton defender Amari’i Bell.

The contact was clear, and while Bell’s hand was down by his side and Ekwah was no more than five yards away from him, the offence should probably have resulted in a penalty. Instead, referee Simon Hooper either didn’t see the handball or deemed it accidental.

As a result, the pressure continued to build as the first half continued. It felt as though getting to half-time level on aggregate would be an achievement of sorts for Sunderland, but they were unable to achieve that somewhat limited ambition, with Luton’s aerial advantage proving decisive again two minutes before the break.

Doughty, who was Luton’s deliverer-in-chief all evening, swung in a cross from close to the right touchline, and after breaking across his marker, Lockyer glanced an excellent header past a helpless Anthony Patterson.

With the game having been turned on its head, Sunderland started the second half knowing they had to score to keep their hopes of making Wembley alive. Instead, they almost handed Luton a third goal within 60 seconds of the restart.

Patterson made a complete mess of a pass out from the back, presenting the ball to Jordan Clark. The Luton midfielder had half the goal to aim at, but floated his long-range effort wide of the target.

While Mowbray threw on Aji Alese before the hour mark in an attempt to stem the flow of Luton’s attacks, the second half proved every bit as one-sided as the first.

Every time Luton got a set-piece they looked like scoring, and they would have done on two separate occasions had it not been for excellent defensive headers from Ekwah and Hume.

Patrick Roberts dragged a shot wide after dribbling into the 18-yard box as Sunderland posed a rare threat, but unlike on so many occasions this season, there was to be no grandstand finish.